Model B

Registry Insight- Model B

The Model B was introduced in 1937 and concluded in 1957, production took place both in the United States and England with several English variants sold in Australia. The tractor was designed to help smaller farms become mechanised at an affordable price, and was the first A/C designed solely for rubber tyres (although during rubber shortages of WW2 Steel wheels were fitted). The B was copied by other manufacturers in short order after the B's runaway success, aided by a full range of implements available for any job. Power came from a 116 cubic inch engine rated at 12.97 drawbar hp and 15.68 belt-hp. The English variants have a serial number with a prefix of EB and at this point in time I have no data on build numbers or production years. As far as identification is concerned the US variants have a "coathanger" style front axle whereas the English variants had a straight axle which was adjustable.

The tractor below has the English style adjustable rear axle and a conventional tractor seat as opposed to the bench style seat found on the American B's.

Below is an example of an American B identified by the "coathanger" style front axle and bench rear seat. The example alongside seems to be an English B with an American style bench seat for added comfort.

Another variation, the Industrial B or IB was produced from 1946 to 1955 (although some 200 were built prior to 1946 with conventional B prefixing) which had an IB prefix. If anyone out there has information regarding the serial numbers for English Variants please get in contact.

Serial numbers for both are located on top of the tractor just in front of the shift pattern.

B Model

1937-   1-96

1938-   97-11799

1939-   11800-33501

1940-   33502-49720

1941-   49721-56781

1942-   56782-61400

1943-   61401-65501

1944-   65502-70209

1945-   70210-72264

1946-   72265-73369

1947-   73370-80555

1948-   80556-92294

1949-   92295-102392

1950-   102393-114526

1951-   114527-118673

1952-   118674-122309

1953-   122310-124201

1954-   124202-124701

1955-   124711-126496

1956-   126497-127185

1957-   127186-?

IB Variants

1946-    1001-1002

1947-    1003-1009

1948-    1010-1281

1949-    1282-1555

1950-    1556-1878

1951-    1879-2218

1952-    2219-2567

1953-    2568-2847

1954-    2848-3068

1955-    3069-3372

EB Variants

1950-     EB4001-EB4201

1951-     EB4202-EB5402

1952-     EB5403-EB6603

1953-     EB6604-EB7804

1954-     EB7805-EB9005

1955-     EB9006-EB10206

1956-     EB10207-EB11407

1957-     EB11408-EB12945

The register for model B,EB and IB tractors in Australia is as follows with 143 currently listed;

Once again if your tractor is not listed please get in touch with us, serial numbers can remain anonymous if you would prefer, this public listing only provides limited information as shown.
There are some discrepancies with some of the serial numbers listed particularly with the EB variants, this data was mainly gather from Owen Triggells' information so verification of these units still needs to be cross checked. A copy of the Register Form can be found here.
One new feature we are adding is if you click on an underlined serial number a photo of the exact tractor will appear also.

Updated 20/07/2023